Prompt - Dean Rescues Sam AU
by nightmares06
Summary: What if instead of Walt and Mallory rescuing Sam when he got cursed, Dean and John were able to find him before the witch took off?
1. Chapter 1

**BA Canon:** No || AU

 **Timeline:** 1993 (Dean is 14; Sam is 10)

* * *

Dean growled, trying to get free of the wall. "You _bitch_ ," he spat angrily. "What did you do to him?!"

The witch smirked, her long, lustrous blonde hair wafting in the air as the spell she'd hit Sam with started to die down. "You'll soon find out," she said with the deadly hiss of a promise. "I'm going to _enjoy_ this."

Her chanting started again. Struggling, Dean's eyes went wide as her hand, clawed around the air, lifted up in preparation to hit him.

Before she could get the blast off, someone slammed against the door. It shuddered. John Winchester's voice could be heard outside the door. "I'm coming boys!"

"Damn," the witch snarled. "Better make this quick." She held up the hand again, preparing the spell.

The door shattered. John barreled in, tackling the witch without taking a breath. He slammed into her, knocking her away from Dean with a shriek.

Dean hit the ground, falling straight down from where he'd been pinned up over three feet in the air. He moaned, certain he'd broken _something_.

The groan tapered off when his eyes landed on something right next to the battling hunter and the witch. Something small, in familiar colors. Dean almost gasped.

 _Sammy!_

He crawled over to the prostrate from. His brother was less than four inches tall, curled up in a tiny ball and shuddering in pain. Sam's shudders increased as Dean lifted him off of the ground. Or maybe it was his hands that were shaking.

Dean was yanked off his feet without warning, John shoving him out of the door. His fingers curled protectively around his brother. "D-dad…" he stuttered. He had no idea what to do.

"Get in the car, Dean!"

A gunshot sounded out. A shrieking laugh was heard. The witch vanished before the bullet hit her. John held the gun in front of him as he backed away.

Dean got into the front seat of the Impala, holding his tiny brother against his chest. Sam had gone motionless, slumped across his fingers. "It's okay, Sammy. I gotcha," he whispered even as John dove into the driver's seat and started it up. The car screeched out of the parking lot.

"Everything will be okay, Sam. I promise."

* * *

The first thing Sam became aware of was the rushing of the ocean.

The world shifted with him, gently rising and falling like the tides. Sam's eyes fluttered for a moment, then settled closed again. The warmth that surrounded him on all sides was soothing and calming. A pulse beat through him, inviting him back to sleep.

Slowly awareness began to return. Flashes and visions hit his mind. The door, breaking down. Dean shouting. A flash of light… and then nothing. Cold eyes framed by blonde hair stared ruthlessly down at him as the blast hit.

That did it.

Sam startled awake with a shout, throwing his arms up defensively. The ground under him stopped moving suddenly, the gentle rise and fall freezing completely.

Sam gasped in a breath, trying to remember what had happened. Where he was.

"Sammy?" came a groggy voice. It rumbled under him this time, making up his entire world.

In the darkness of the room, shapes started to coalesce. Lurking, powerful monuments. Looming figures. His pulse went up as he realized he had no idea where he was.

"D-Dean?" he called out cautiously. At least the voice was familiar if the sensation of the booming volume it talked in wasn't.

The ground under him started to shift. "Lemme get a light," Dean mumbled.

Sam froze as what it all meant started to sink in.

The light snapping on overhead gave his horror form. He wasn't sleeping on the ground. The ocean waves weren't bobbing him up and down.

He was _on Dean._

Sam was crouched on Dean's chest, the older boy only partially awake as he rubbed at his eyes. And Dean didn't seem surprised at the fact that his younger brother, less than three inches tall, was on his chest.

Sam watched the massive arms soar overhead as Dean yawned. With his eyes closed for that one fatal second, Dean didn't see the panic rise in Sam's eyes. He missed the small body tense.

Sam bolted.

Within seconds, Sam was sliding down the sheet Dean was lying under. His mind was speeding through priorities. _Find Dean, find Dad, get away from any giants_. Nothing in him would allow the thought that the giant he'd left behind was, in fact, Dean, and that John would be even more gargantuan.

Dean shouted in surprise. "Sammy, wait!"

Sam tried to dodge a hand that grabbed at him, but it was so much faster that the fingers closed relentlessly around him before he could escape. He struggled, trying to dig out the knife Dean had given him a few months ago. If he'd ever needed protection, now was the time.

Dean was too fast for him again. Those fingers sealed Sam's arms to his sides, keeping him helpless.

Sam trembled as he was lifted into the air, staring up at the huge eyes of his captor. Dean's expression softened at the fear in his brother's eyes. The fingers uncurled, setting Sam free on his palm. "Sam, it's _me_ , I promise. It's _Dean_. You got hit by that witch, but I'm not gonna let anything happen to you."

Minutes stretched out, an eternity of time. Sam's breathing started to slow enough for him to catch sight of the rest of the room around them. A room that was made for Dean's size. Not Sam's.

He huddled down into the hand, terrified of everything around him. In the blink of an eye his entire world was torn away, replaced with massive monuments, towering structures he would never reach. Even a light switch was beyond his grasp.

Everything but Dean.

The hands shifted with him, cupping him against a tall chest. The rushing sound of the ocean filled Sam's ears once more. The sound of his brother's immense breaths, moving through lungs that now dwarfed _all_ of Sam. He shuddered again as he let himself cower into the safety Dean provided simply by being there.

"Dean, what happened? What's gonna happen to me?"

* * *

Dean tried to ignore the argument as he sullenly got ready for school, shoving an extra notebook into his backpack. It wasn't like he was going to be in the school long enough to actually learn anything. What the hell was the point?

John glared down at his younger son, who was doing his best to stand his ground on the table. At only two and a half inches tall, a glare like that wasn't easy to look into without flinching.

"Dad, it's just school," Sam protested. "How can I keep up if I stay in the motel all day?"

"It's _not safe,_ " John said grimly. "What if someone sees you? It's not a risk you're taking. You'll be safer back here with me. When Dean gets back he can fill you in on what he learned."

Sam rolled his eyes, knowing as well as Dean did that his older brother rarely paid attention long enough in class to soak up the lessons. John's eyes narrowed. "Sam…"

"Fine," Sam snapped. He kicked the pen that was left near him on the table. "I'll stay," he finished in a mumble.

John nodded sharply. He spotted Dean, still standing in the shadow of the bathroom. "Don't you have somewhere to be?" he snapped. The recent reveal of his younger son's curse had left his patience thin. Dean and Sam were both treading on thin ice constantly.

Dean didn't say a word, just swung his backpack onto his shoulders. He tried to give Sam a reassuring glance, _I'll be back soon_ , but Sam refused to meet his gaze. _Great_ , Dean thought. Bad enough he had to leave the two of them alone. Worse that neither of them was happy with him.

John grabbed a set of clothing, stomping into the bathroom. "Make sure the door is locked behind you!" he shouted at Dean, paying no mind to the way Sam flinched at the loud noise.

Dean shuffled his way out of the room, trying to draw out the time until he left.

He was so withdrawn into himself that he never noticed the weight that slipped into his pocket when he passed by the table.

* * *

It was only a ten minute walk to school, and passed by quietly for the first five minutes. Dean was deep in thought, wishing there was something he could do to help Sam. But… _he's too small. It's too dangerous. What if someone grabs him? He'll be better if he stays in the room while I find a way to break the curse._ John's words reverberated in his mind. _Look out for Sammy, Dean. He's too small to look out for himself._ It was like Sam had become something that just needed looking after, instead of a son. A burden to carry.

Dean could never think of his brother like that.

At the five minute mark, he felt a shifting in his pocket. He caught himself before he jumped, internally groaning as he realized the only thing that could have hitched a ride in there like that.

Dean stuck a hand in his pocket, and sure enough, a tiny body clothed in jeans and flannel tried to squirm away from grasping fingers. He gave a laugh as he briefly pulled Sam out, shaking his head. "Sam, what were you thinking? You heard dad about it not being safe out here for you!"

Sam uncurled from the ball Dean had scooped him into. There was no fear in his face when he looked up at Dean anymore, a fact that Dean was proud of. He never wanted to scare his little brother. It felt like he was winning Sam's trust back, even with the huge difference in size.

"Yeah, right," Sam grumbled. He scuffed a shoe against Dean's palm. "Not safe. Instead I get to sit there and listen to dad lecture me all day. He has no idea what it's really like and he's coming up with 'rules' I have to follow!"

The unexpected vehemence from Sam caught him off guard. Usually his little brother was the one that always had a smile on his face. The curse must be wearing on him… Dean winced at the memory of John glaring down at Sam. Their dad hadn't caught sight of the tiny, curled fist that Sam kept behind his back, trying to hide the way it shook from fear.

Dean couldn't say no to the puppy eyes his brother pulled out, not even when they were almost too small to be seen. He gave a laugh. "Yeah, I get it. He's going to kill me when we get back." He'd just have to tell John that it was his idea. The last thing they needed was Sam getting yelled at again.

He lifted up his hand to his shoulder. "How's the hoodie sound for hiding? That way you can tell me if anything happens."

Sam lit right up, reminding Dean why he did stupid shit like this. Even though he expected to see the Impala come flying around the corner at any second, he let his brother climb onto his shoulder. A tiny weight dropped into his hood, and Dean started walking again.

"You're helping me with the quizzes, though, pint-size."


	2. Chapter 2

John crossed his arms, staring down at the brothers. "Mind explaining what the hell you were thinking?" he demanded of Dean.

Dean stiffened, annoyance flashing in his eyes. Sam was surprised. Even after everything, he was so used to Dean doing whatever their dad said like a good little soldier. But now, the older brother was in clear disagreement with the hunter.

Dean clenched a fist. "He's not going to learn anything if we just lock him up all day. And I was watching out for him. No one ever saw him in my hood."

John scowled. Sam shrank a little closer to Dean, intimidated by the angry glare. No matter how much he understood intellectually that he wasn't going to be hurt, it was hard to see someone bigger than a building so angry.

Dean's hand scooped Sam off the table when he wasn't looking, too distracted by their father. He was cupped protectively by Dean's chest while the boy continued arguing. "Dad, if we just keep him locked up like that, he's going to get bored and he needs to stay sharp if he's going to be this size, at least until we find a cure. You can't watch him all day. At least if he's with me, he's safe."

John didn't move for a minute, sizing both his sons up with his arms crossed. "If anything happens to him, _you're_ responsible," he snapped at Dean before stalking away.

Sam could feel the tension leak out of Dean the moment he was turned away. He didn't say a word, holding his tongue as gratitude filled him. He wouldn't be stuck in a massive room all day with nowhere to go.

Thanks to Dean, who'd stood up to their father for the first time.

* * *

Dean groaned as he read over the text. "This is _boring_ ," he grumbled. "We should sneak out and get ice cream."

Sam scoffed, taking a few steps on Dean's back. He'd started out perched on Dean's head so he could read over the assignment, but Dean spent so much of his time grumbling over the work, he was still on the same page five minutes after Sam had finished.

After being this size for a few weeks, he was beginning to find it far more intriguing than frightening. So long as their dad wasn't yelling at them, of course. Even now, he could feel the muscles shift under his feet as Dean finally went to turn the page. He was massively outsized, but perfectly safe where he was.

"Y'know that I can't give you _all_ the answers," Sam pointed out, walking back up to a shoulder so he could peer off. "You need to do _some_ of it for yourself."

No one had spotted Sam yet, not even during a test. He was small enough to use the folds in the shirt to hide in, and his voice was soft enough that the other students couldn't hear him. Dean's grades had taken an upswing, even with the course material a few years ahead of where Sam was. It was a welcome challenge that he could use to keep his mind off things.

Dean reached the end of the reading and grabbed a notebook. "Whatever. But you're still helping me with the homework, pint-size. Can't have _you_ slacking off either."

Sam hid a smirk as he swung his legs off the edge of the shoulder, letting them dangle before he dropped down to the soft mattress below. He landed in a pile, bouncing slightly before he caught his balance. From this angle, he was completely bathed in shadow from above, Dean's shoulders blocking the light.

Making his way over to the book, he glanced up at Dean. "Do you at least have something my size to write with?"

Dean looked like a deer in headlights when he was put on the spot. He glanced between Sam, who stood all of two and a half inches tall, and the pencil in his hand, which was easily five inches, if not longer.

"Uhh…" Dean trailed off.

Sam rolled his eyes. "Looks like you'll _still_ be doing the work," he jabbed.


End file.
